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Author C.J. Sansom booklist (click here)

Book Review By Ray Audrey
Dissolution by C.J. Sansom

King Henry VIII of England solved his marital and financial problems by making himself head of the Church. But he threw his country into chaos. The seats of learning and privilege, the monasteries, had to be dissolved as a result. Commissioner Robin Singleton was sent by Lord Thomas Cromwell to investigate stories of lechery and illegal land sales at the Monastery at Scarnsea. He was murdered for his trouble; a bloody beheading. Hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake was chosen to find out what happened quickly and secretly before the scandal got to the King's ears.

Matthew found plenty of evidence of lack of obedience to the Benedictine rule and soft and lecherous living. He ruled out the simpler monks and servants as being responsible for the killing and concentrated on the senior monks; since the sword was a gentleman's weapon. Young Simon Whelplay, weak and ill and badly treated by the Prior, had a story to tell, but was murdered before he could report.

The missing sword was found in the marsh together with the body of a young woman servant who was thought to have run away with two golden chalices. Matthew returned to London to find out who the owner of the sword had been.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70%
Kind of investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
descript. of violence and chases - 10 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 50 %
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Race

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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